What to Wear to a Massage (and What Stays On)

What to wear to a massage is the question people Google the night before a first appointment, and the answer is calmer than they expect. Draping, the sheet and blanket system that keeps you covered, is a College of Massage Therapists of Ontario standard, not a courtesy that varies from one Registered Massage Therapist to the next. Bruno Panucci RMT has answered this question for 25 years at his in-home practice in Brantford, for first-timers from across Brant County, and his answer never changes: undress to your comfort level, and the treatment adapts to you. This page settles the wardrobe side of the visit; the rest lives in the full first appointment walkthrough.

In short: there is no dress code for massage therapy. You undress only to the level you are comfortable with, a sheet and blanket cover everything except the area being treated, and fully clothed treatment is a real option. In Ontario, draping is a regulated standard, not a personal policy.

6 min read

What should you wear to a massage?

The rule that governs a Registered Massage Therapy session is simple: undress to your comfort level, and no further. At Bruno’s Brantford practice that gets settled once, during intake. Bruno Panucci RMT suggests the areas worth treating, you say what you are comfortable with, then he leaves the room while you change and settle under the sheet, and knocks before coming back in. Effective work happens at every level of dress: oil-based strokes suit bare skin, but compression, stretching, and focused pressure all work through fabric, so a fully clothed session is a real option, not a lesser one. Most people undress to their underwear. Nobody checks, and nobody comments. That other night-before worry, the tipping question, has a plain answer too. Beyond clothing, the rest of the day-of preparation, eating, and caffeine have their own checklist page. If you are feeling nervous about the whole thing, there is a page that answers every worry.

What does draping mean, minute to minute?

Draping is the sheet and blanket system that keeps you covered for the whole treatment, minute to minute. While Bruno Panucci RMT works on your back, only your back is uncovered; when that work ends, it is covered again before a leg takes its turn. Turning over happens under the drape, with the sheet held so you are never exposed. None of this depends on a therapist’s manners. The College of Massage Therapists of Ontario sets draping and physical privacy standards that every Registered Massage Therapist must follow, in Brantford and everywhere else in the province. Ask for more covering, or an extra blanket, at any point and you will get it.

Should you keep your underwear on?

Underwear on or off is genuinely your call, and nothing important changes either way. Keep it on and Bruno tucks the drape at the waistband so oil stays off the fabric; hip and glute work, if you want it, happens through the drape with your consent. Take it off and the draping covers exactly as much, for exactly as long. Neither choice is more correct, and Bruno Panucci RMT will not ask why. If the night-before question is partly about seeing a male therapist, that has its own plain page: comfort questions, answered straight.

What do people wear for back, leg, or jaw work?

What people wear shifts with the treatment area, and some work needs no undressing at all: jaw and TMJ massage is done fully clothed, lying face up. At Bruno’s Brantford practice, it usually breaks down like this.

None of it is fixed. Say what feels right on the day, and the plan bends to you.

What to bring, and what stays home

You do not need to bring anything: Bruno Panucci RMT provides fresh linens for every client, and the treatment room holds everything else a session needs. A few small things still help. A hair tie keeps long hair out of neck work. A glasses case earns its spot, because glasses come off for face-down time. Leave jewellery at home; it all comes off anyway, and home is the easiest place not to lose it. And since you will leave relaxed and lightly oiled, easy layers, a zip-up over a soft shirt, beat anything tight or delicate.

Arriving at unit C

Dressing for the appointment ends with finding it. Park in unit C parking or on the street; Bruno’s unit is unit C, at the back, and because the building is a fourplex with look-alike doors, do not guess. Text Bruno from the car at 519-753-5544 instead of knocking, and he will come to the door the moment he is ready. That one text keeps you off a stranger’s doorstep and keeps any session in progress undisturbed. From there the visit runs the way this page promises: a short intake, the room to yourself to change, and a drape that stays with you to the end.

Related reading

• when today is the day
• the gentlest way to start
• other quick practice answers
• jaw work, done fully clothed

Sources

• College of Massage Therapists of Ontario, Standards of Practice (draping and physical privacy).
• Government of Ontario. Massage Therapy Act, 1991, S.O. 1991, c. 27. ontario.ca/laws/statute/91m27